We all love to travel. Does not always have to be some other country or continent, as long as it helps us to distress and make memories which will last for a lifetime. The want to explore, meet new people and be a part of a different culture even if for a short span, makes us go through so many emotions at once.

The experiences people have has helped shape the travel industry over time. The number of advancements in technology, the accessibility and infrastructure, have ensured that the way people travel today is different from what it used to be.

The reason we have included advancements in infrastructure as a part of the list, is because today places to stay while travelling have become a major concern today.

Luxurious hotels, motels have come up which make sure that the entire experience of that journey is blissful. In case you are wondering what, this has to do with hotels and accommodations, more than 65% people conduct an online research before finalizing any accommodation related decision and close to 80% people use a smartphone to plan an entire trip.

As a matter of fact, the hotels and accommodations business was one of the very first to shift from traditional marketing methods to digital and this early adoption has enabled it to stay consistently in control of the trends.

Further ahead, we shall discuss the challenges digital marketing faces in this industry, why Digital Marketing is the solution for all marketing needs, the benefits of using Digital Marketing for hotels and what can be done to increase the efficiency of such Digital Marketing campaigns.

Challenges faced by Digital Marketing in Hotels and accommodations

As of now, after upstaging the business of this industry by providing numerous advantages (some of which are discussed below) the only issue which digital marketing encounters is that despite all the research done online, the final decision is executed through offline or physical means.

People still prefer to book their hotels through travel agents after researching for a particular offer online. It becomes difficult to track which sales were induced online which in turn makes it difficult to measure the success of the ad campaigns. A possible solution to this would be to persuade customers to conduct transactions online by offering discounts.

Why Digital Marketing is the solution for all marketing needs:

Let us dive straight into the facts which support the given statement and tell us why companies or agencies in hotels and accommodations should adopt digital marketing-

1) After the implementation of on online booking system, there is a hike in bookings by close to 30% which shows that people are gradually starting to learn to complete a transaction online.
2) As of 2015, nearly 200 new users contributed to TripAdvisor every minute.
3) Social media is in for travelling. Reports suggest that close to 90% people refer to comments and reviews on social media while finalizing a booking. A positive buzz is created 27% times when users share good reviews or experiences for a particular brand.

Benefits of using Digital Marketing in the Hotel business:

As we stated earlier, this sector was one of the first to implement Digital Marketing and hence it has been able to reap in the following benefits consistently over a long period of time-

1) Customer Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is what matters most in any form of business, however in hotels and accommodations, experiences are what it is made of and if they are not up to the mark, the entire objective falls short. When we say customer satisfaction is achieved using digital marketing in hotels and accommodations we mean to say that it helps in providing a personalized experience by inviting feedback and queries. Social media accounts help to keep customers engaged and also ensure that new leads are generated. A continuous communication between the producer and customer as to the type of services being offered, improvements which can be made, etc. make the customer feel important and increases chances of them repeating their stay next time.

2) 24*7 Reach: With an increase in the dependency on mobile devices, it is easy to access information from anywhere and at any time. Digital marketing helps you grab this opportunity by making your product or service accessible to users on the go. With the help of mobile applications you can do business around the globe at the convenience of your customer. Online bookings, reviews, browsing are examples of this service. Further by increasing your SEO rankings with the help of PPC, you can increase your chances of conversion from casual browsing to sale.

Tips to Increase Efficiency of Digital Marketing Ad Campaigns

1) Mobile Optimized: Reports suggest that by the year 2020 the number of mobile phone users in the world will be 5.07 billion. Keeping this in mind, Google has started rolling out its ‘mobile first’ policy in which it gives preference to those sites which can be easily optimized to fit a phone’s screen. Moreover, in between 2011-2015 the rate of mobile bookings for hotels and accommodations have gone up by 1700%.

2) Informative Content: As a service provider in the hotels and accommodations  industry you do not always have to be selling your plans and packages but also have to aim at educating your audience. For example, posting content about various places people can visit during different seasons, or what one can do when visiting a particular tourist spot. More than 60% users have confirmed they feel confident about a site which provides them information as well. Try to incorporate videos in your blogs or articles as reports suggest that more than 1/3^rd of the audience watches an entire video rather than going through a full blog post.